Decorative display form



Jan. 3, 1939. A. G. ANDERSON DECORATIVE DISPLAY FORM Filed Dec. 20, 195'? ail Patented Jan. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF lfiE'.

DECORATIVE DISPLAY FORM Application December 20, 1937, Serial No. 180,754

4 Claims.

For store'window advertising and other purposes it is customaryto employ display forms of various sizesand-sha-pes and to change the forms at frequent intervals. Heretofore the usual practice has been to construct such forms of wood or other expensive material and to discard them after short usage.

Objects of the present invention are to producedecorati've forms for advertising and other "purpos'eswhich areattractive in appearance and inexpensive in construction, which are light in weight, which can-be shipped and stored in compact form, whichare-adaptable to a wide variety of shapes,- which can be used repeatedly in different shapes and arrangements, and which are generally superior to display forms-heretofore known.

According to this invention the forms comprise a sheet of corrugated material, such as ordinary pulp board, with a facing sheet of cardboard or the like cemented to the crests of the corrugations on one side of the corrugated sheet and preferably on each side. To make the form bendable to the desired shape I provide a series of slits or cuts which extend transversely of the corrugations from one side of the form substantially to the inside of the facing sheet on the opposite side of the form, with the portions of the corrugated sheet between the oblique cuts remaining fast to the uncut facing sheet. Thus the form may be used flatwise, in which case the cuts are visible merely as thin lines on one side of the form, or it may be bent transversely of the corrugations to the desired shape, the cuts preferably being close enough together to afford any one of a wide variety of shapes. The cuts or slits are preferably oblique to the faces of the form, and while they may all incline in the same direction they preferably incline alternately in opposite directions, with each pair of slits which converge toward the uncut facing close enough together to almost meet at the inside of the facing sheet. Thus the wedge-shaped portion of the form between each pair of converging slits remains fast to the uncut facing sheet throughout a width so narrow that the portion may readily be torn out when it is desired to bend the sheet through a wide angle along the locus defined by a particular pair of slits, but the spacing between the bottoms of the slits is preferably suflicient to prevent the wedge-shaped portions from being forced out in response to forcestending to bend the form in the direction to make the slit side concave, thereby to contribute to the rigidity of the form when used flatwise.

Either or both of the facing sheets may be painted or otherwise decorated and, when said wedge-shaped portions are torn out, the wavy edges of the corrugated sheet at each side of the opening may be utilized as a part of the decorative effect.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a flat form;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail plan view;

Fig. 5 is an end view of a square form; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an octagonal form.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration comprises a corrugated sheet I having facing sheets 2 and 3 cemented to the crests of the corrugations on opposite sides thereof. At frequent intervals along the composite sheet the facing sheet 2 and the corrugated sheet I are cut by pairs of converging oblique slits 4 which extend from one side of the form almost to the inside of the facing sheet on the opposite side of the form. The bottoms 5 of the converging slits are spaced far enough apart so that the wedge-shaped portion 6 between the slits remains fast to the facing sheet 3, whereby the form may be used flatwise' with the wedge-shaped portions serving to stiffen the sheet. However the bottoms of the slits are close enough together to permit the wedgeshaped portions to be readily. torn out of the form as indicated in Fig. 1. When thus torn out the wedge-shaped portion leaves an opening which has the appearance shown in enlarged form in Fig. 4 where l' represents the cut edges of the corrugated sheet, I" the crests of the corrugations which remain cemented to the facing sheet 3, and 2' the cut edges of the sheet 2.

While the dimensions may of course be varied, depending upon the use to which the forms are to be put and the composition of the sheets, when using paper sheets for window display forms I have found the following dimensions to be highly satisfactory.

Inch Thickness of uncut facing sheet, including outside decorative coating .032 Thickness of cut facing sheet .030 Thickness of corrugated sheet .015

Space between facing sheets .165

Total thickness of form .227 Distance between crests of corrugations .350 Distance between bottoms of cuts .190

By tearing out the second, fourth and sixth wedge-shaped portions of an eight-section form the form may be bent into the shape shown in Fig. 5 which has a square cross-section and which has a smooth continuous surface throughout its entire periphery except at one corner where the edges of the form meet; and by tearing out all of the wedge-shaped portions of an eightsection form the form may be bent into the octagonal shape shown in Fig. 6 with the wavy edges of the cut corrugations contributing to the decorative elfect at the corners of the form. Obviously many other decorative shapes may be produced from a form of this kind, particularly if the sheets are made in long strips and then out off or torn off, along one of the aforesaid openings, to the desired length.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A decorative display form comprising a sheet of corrugated material and a facing sheet fast to one side thereof, the corrugated sheet having pairs of juxtaposed converging cuts extending transversely of the corrugations substantially to the inside of the facing sheet, the portions of the corrugated sheet between the converging cuts remaining fast to the facing sheet but the bottoms of the cuts of each pair being close enough together to permit said portions to be readily torn out, whereby said portions may be left in place to afford a relatively stiff flat form or they may be torn out to afford a readily bendable angular form.

2. A paper sheet adapted for use in making decorative display forms comprising a sheet of corrugated material and a facing sheet fast to each side thereof, one facing sheet and the corrugated sheet having pairs of juxtaposed converging cuts extending transversely of the cor rugations substantially to the inside of the other facing sheet, the portions of the cut sheets between the converging cuts remaining fast to the uncut facing sheet but the bottoms of the cuts of each pair being close enough together to permit said portions to be readily torn out, whereby said portions may be left in place to afford a relatively stiff flat form or they may be torn out to afford a readily bendable angular form.

3. A paper sheet adapted for use in making decorative display forms comprising a sheet of corrugated material and a facing sheet fast to one side thereof, the corrugated sheet having a series of oblique cuts extending transversely of the corrugations substantially to the inside of the facing sheet thereby to increase the flexibility of the sheet, the portions of the corrugated sheet between the oblique cuts remaining fast to the facing sheet so that the cross-sectional edges of the corrugations formed by said cuts are substantially concealed.

4. A decorative display form comprising a sheet of corrugated material and a facing sheet fast to each side thereof, one facing sheet and the corrugated sheet having a series of oblique cuts extending transversely of the corrugations substantially to the inside of the other facing sheet thereby to increase the flexibility of the sheet, the portions of the corrugated sheet between the oblique cuts remaining fast to said other facing sheet so that the cross-sectional edges of the corrugations formed by saidcuts are substantially concealed.

ALVIN G. ANDERSCN. 

